Editing List of communities in Alberta (section)

==== Municipal districts ====
{{main|List of municipal districts in Alberta}}

According to Section 78 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), a [[municipal district]] is an area in which:
* the majority of the buildings used as dwellings are on parcels of land with an area of at least {{cvt|1,850|m2}}; and
* there is a population of 1,000 or more.<ref name=munact />

Essentially, municipal districts are large rural areas in which their citizens reside on farms, country residential subdivisions or unincorporated communities (i.e., hamlets, localities and other settlements).<ref name=muntypes />

In Alberta, the term ''[[county]]'' is synonymous with the term ''municipal district'' – it is not its own incorporated municipal status that is different from that of a municipal district. As such, Alberta Municipal Affairs provides municipal districts with the opportunity to brand themselves either as ''municipal districts'' or ''counties'' in their official names.

Of Alberta's 63 municipal districts, 46 of them brand themselves as ''counties''. Over the past 30 years, Alberta has observed a trend of numerous municipal districts rebranding themselves as ''counties'' through official name changes. Some of the reasons why a municipal district would rebrand itself as a ''county'' include that the term ''county'' is: more recognizable by the general public; has a more traditional appeal; and is more marketable from an economic development perspective.

The last municipal district (MD) to rebrand itself as a ''county'' was the MD of Foothills No. 31, which was renamed as [[Foothills County]] on January 1, 2019.<ref name=Foothills>{{cite web | url=https://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/orders/Orders_in_Council/2018/1218/2018_396.html | title={{abbr|O.C.|Order in Council}} 396/2018 | publisher=Government of Alberta | date=December 11, 2018 | access-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref>

Alberta's 63 municipal districts have a combined population totalling 471,852 as of 2019.<ref name=2019pop />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+Municipal&nbsp;districts&nbsp;of&nbsp;Alberta
|-{{:List of municipal districts in Alberta}}
|}